In a world that’s bogged down by plastic toys, wooden toys are open-ended, stimulating and also bring the outside world right into the play room.

Noticed something about our children’s dolls and toys? There is an abundance of plastic, flashing lights, buttons, playbacks and gimmickry. Don’t get us wrong, we all love Disney and Mattel but whatever happened to handcrafted dolls and toys? Everything is handed to a child on a platter and every toy is bogged down by a sense of excess.

This is where wooden toys are invaluable. These dolls have irony, quirkiness, a history, a future and leave so much to a child’s imagination.

Fascinating makers of wooden toys for children

Handcrafted with tremendous skill, Varnam puts its unique and quirky stamp on traditional Channapatna toys. The wood used, wrightia tinctoria, is completely safe and known for its medicinal values. Designed to take us back to happy childhood in the lap of nature, the Varnam toy family includes Arfee the Girraffe, Miss Moo the Cow and the Oinkstons family (pull-toy).

What we like:

Arjuna’s challenge

The stacking game

‘A Little Bit Round,’ a game that consists of over 65 wooden pieces of different shapes, all of which can be used to make different shapes on the floor — cows, flowers, you name it.

Skola has an astonishing range of educational toys, toys that make learning fun and also look so beautiful. Skola’s wooden toys are a treat to look at, play with and to touch. From lockboxes to cascading cars, these toys are richly multisensorial – satisfying to touch, with their natural ‘clickety clack’ sounds perfect for triggering all the senses .

What we like:

The sliding cars and the Skola sand pendulum.

All the toys come in lovely Skola doodle boxes. They can doodle or color on it!

Made by very creative mothers, Shumee offers non-toxic wooden toys that are fun, imaginative and also offer great value for money. Design is a great way to get children to think and at Shumee, toys open windows of learning in a child.

Known for its fantastic range of traditional Indian games and toys for children, Kavade pretty much changed the landscape of toys in the city. Kavade brings creativity and intelligence to all its products.

From movable animals and automobiles to rattles and teethers, Aatike has some beautiful wooden toys for children. Their wooden buses and cars look just like the ones we used to pull and play with as children!

One of Bangalore’s absolute treasures, Sutradhar houses some of the most beautiful toys, educational aids, Montessori material and games. Trust us, if you visit Sutradhar, you wouldn’t want to leave, whether you are a parent or a child! Sutradhar is also wonderful for teachers and educationists.

Maya Organic is an NGO that fosters artisans, workers and micro-entrepreneurs capable of producing high quality wooden products. They have a huge variety of wooden Channapatna toys for children, including wooden toys for children as old as 12! Check out their range of sensorial toys, stackers, puzzles and more.

8. Only Wood

Only Wood makes toys that aid important cognitive, social and emotional development in children. Safe, eco-freindly and handmade, these dolls and toys are richly multisensorial and engage a child’s makebelieve world in truly wonderful ways.

Started in 2014 with the aim of bringing traditional and classic toys to children’s play rooms, Channa Toys brings the beauty, grandeur and creativity of Channapatna to children. You can now buy these beautiful Channapatna toys online! Chances are that you may get dolls from many of the other brands mentioned here through this web site.